He lowered his torch instantly
lest the light should awake them. As he did so it flashed upon his
pickaxe, lying by the side of the queen, whose hand lay close by
the handle of it.
'Stop one moment,' he whispered. 'Hold my torch, and don't let the
light on their faces.'
Irene shuddered when she saw the frightful creatures, whom she had
passed without observing them, but she did as he requested, and
turning her back, held the torch low in front of her. Curdie drew
his pickaxe carefully away, and as he did so spied one of her feet,
projecting from under the skins. The great clumsy granite shoe,
exposed thus to his hand, was a temptation not to be resisted. He
laid hold of it, and, with cautious efforts, drew it off. The
moment he succeeded, he saw to his astonishment that what he had
sung in ignorance, to annoy the queen, was actually true: she had
six horrible toes. Overjoyed at his success, and seeing by the
huge bump in the sheepskins where the other foot was, he proceeded
to lift them gently, for, if he could only succeed in carrying away
the other shoe as well, he would be no more afraid of the goblins
than of so many flies.
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